Child Care Providers Pack Gateway For Tax Forum.

Family childcare providers gathered at Gateway Community College in New Haven on Saturday, February 23rd to hear a lecture and ask questions of the featured speaker, nationally renowned family childcare tax expert Tom Copeland. He participated in the forum remotely from his home in Minnesota. Something happened at that meeting that we wished happened all the time: There were 100 providers registered for the event, but providers kept coming. Extra tables and food needed to be ordered, and before the webinar started there were close to 200 providers in the room.

The forum provided a wealth of information for providers about how to get their taxes in order and maximize their potential returns. Tom Copeland even provided himself as a resource, so if there are further questions the Union could get answers.

“Taxes are difficult and complex for most people. So to understand that you can write off a lot of the things we spend money out of our pockets on, that’s important. It was really interesting for providers to learn about the things that could be tax-deductible; the toys that they bought, the books and educational materials, transportation; picking kids up and dropping them off,” said Hartford child care provider Rjo Winch.

The forum was part of CSEA’s effort to get providers involved and active in our union. A number of people entered the room as family childcare providers and left united as new union members. Thanks to all the CSEA members and staff who helped make this event a success!